HIGH SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS: A FUTURE COMPONENT OF AMERICA'S INTERMODAL NETWORK?

This article provides an overview of what appears to be a major change in national transportation policy of the United States. It focuses on the legislative efforts to integrate high speed ground transportation' (HSGT) systems into the intermodal mix of methods of moving people throughout the country. In order to put this developing policy within its proper perspective; the status of high speed ground transportation in the United States will be compared to developments in Europe and Japan. This will be followed by a discussion of the policy objectives of the Intermodal Transportation Efficiency Act of 19912 (ISTEA), legislation which was designed to promote efficiency, cost effectiveness and environmental sensitivity in our nation's transportation planning process. The article will then analyze the Clinton Administration's High Speed Rail Development Act of 1933 in an effort to identify the obstacles that HSGT must overcome to be implemented effectively into the nation's intermodal transportation network.